


Ever After

by TerryMcKay



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: Continuation of the show, F/M, Fic Continuation, Fluff and Smut, I hope it's a good balance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-05 14:22:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20490314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerryMcKay/pseuds/TerryMcKay
Summary: This is a series of one-shots post "Hidden Truth".It is not strictly mandatory to know "Hidden Truth" before reading any of these, but it makes things infinitely less confusing.





	1. Highlands and Bedsheets

**Author's Note:**

> "It had been a long way coming for Julia. Ever since she had promised Carolyn to come and visit her and David’s father in Scotland, she had been adamant about it, never forgetting to remind her herself or let David be the messenger..."
> 
> \- It is quite long, so I hope you have enough time for it.
> 
> \- Feedback and is always more than welcome and motivating. :)

It had been a long way coming for Julia. Ever since she had promised Carolyn to come and visit her and David’s father in Scotland, she had been adamant about it, never forgetting to remind her herself or let David be the messenger. 

Adjusting to a whole new work routine by being Prime Minister and handling being a mum, who on top, was not overly crazy about nannies since she had gone through so many as a child herself, didn’t make it any easier. She wanted a real connection with her daughter and not ship her duties off on someone else. Setting priorities was really the key. That and bringing Bea with her whenever she could. 

She had affronted a few old male MPs about this more than once, but she didn’t really care. At the end of the day, her daughter was more important to her than her post as PM or than some outdated opinions of some men. Besides, it wasn’t as if Bea was disruptive. She was either sleeping, observing everything or if she got fussy, Julia either let her sit on a carpet on the floor, where her daughter had mastered the first attempts of crawling to reach objects of interest or she had her on her lap with a toy to play with. 

“You could give them a show and breastfeed her in a meeting too. You’d kill two birds with one stone, you’d shut the men up because they would stare at your boob instead and challenge “anti-breastfeeding in public” opinions on top,” David had offered as advice one night after a particularly gruelling day, when Bea was just two months old and Julia had gotten back from her maternity leave. 

Julia had not even dignified this with a look, but merely with a very dry off-hand remark: “... Sure, and next week I’ll bring my breast pump to work, that will be a real turn-on. Then they can sue me for sexual assault.”

Somehow seven tumultuous months had passed and only now Julia had finally time to make true to her promise. Parliament was finally in recess. This meant, time for herself, for David and Bea and for some semblance of a normal life. 

There had been times in Julia’s life when she absolutely could not wait for recess to be over. But times had changed and so had Julia. She looked forward to some time off, even though she was not particularly sure if hiking in the Scottish highlands and moors was her idea of spending her holidays. For the next three weeks, however, this would be her reality. How that would go down, would remain to be seen.

The morning of the departure started at an almost ungodly hour. Julia’s announcement that she’d vacation in Scotland and didn’t want any security around or any fuss for that matter, had sent her PPO and her entire security detail into an anaemic shock. No amount of words or attempts of convincing had changed her mind in the slightest and so they had eventually come up with the plan of making at least sure she would make it onto the plane unharmed and unnoticed. The earlier that happened, the better. 

So, now she found herself awake at 3.30 am, packing last things for herself and Bea, letting her sleep for as long as she could, hoping that once she put her in her baby seat, she would be unfazed about it and continue with her slumber. The last thing she needed, was a grumpy baby that was ripped out of her daily routine and was woken much earlier than she was used to and henceforth might rouse unneeded attention at the airport. 

“Come on, darling. We’re going to Scotland. But … you are going to sleep again… there,” Julia cooed to her daughter, as she got her out of bed, changed her diapers and bundled her back up in her baby seat, with some baby headphones on and a blanket over the seat. Luckily, Bea had been sleepy enough, not to make too big a fuss and fell asleep again pretty quickly.

David had been right. It did look as if Bea had her nose, but she also had his eyes and as her mother had proven, by producing some baby pictures of Julia, Bea was almost the spitting image of her mother. David was not too unhappy about that (“My two gorgeous gals”).

“All set?” David peaked his head around the corner. “Will you take her? Then I’ll take the luggage.”

Julia gave a curt nod and they made their way to the airport. The idea was, to go to London Stansted, mingle among the others, with her security detail incognito and enter the plane last, while Kim Knowles would fly to Scotland and back again. Once arrived there, they would be on their own. If her daughter would play her role accordingly, it should all go down smoothly and they should arrive in Glasgow with merely a few confused looks of one or the other passenger.

She had made an attempt to dress down with a pair of jeans, a simple, yet sophisticated shirt and a grey hooded Burberry coat. She couldn´t remember the last time she had actually worn that but this trip had given her ample opportunity to go shopping once again, which had been a logistic nightmare but had worked out well enough. She had even got some outfits for Bea, including a Reversible Vintage Check Down-filled Puffer Jacket. 

David had done an even better job at disguising himself, with some normal dark jeans, a dark shirt and a matching jacket, dragging both their trolleys behind him. He was still the practical type, who didn’t need a 700-pound parka. He knew he couldn’t change Julia in that respect, but try and bring her back to reality every once in a while still didn’t do any harm, especially when it came to their daughter’s clothes. But usually, she was just as headstrong as he was, so he was not very successful with his attempts to make her less posh.

Once they had finally arrived at the airport, it all worked out like a charm. At the check-in she got some odd looks of a few people, wondering if she really was the person they thought she was, yet no one dared to ask. 

There she downed at least two cups of coffee and tried to find a quiet corner, to wait until they could board the plane. Feeding Bea, who had woken up and had demanded attention also went smoothly and once Kim had finally given them the signal to enter the plane, more curious glances and some whispers followed them (“Is that our Prime Minister?”, “No, it can’t be. Our PM wouldn’t board a plane with us.”, “But she looks just like Julia Montague and she does have a baby and the woman is with a baby.”)

Two hours later and just in the nick of time they landed, for a fussy seven-month-old was close to voice her frustration of being cooped up in a baby seat for entirely too long, with a full diaper to top it all. Once again, Julia and David waited until everyone was out of the plane, not without yet another few suspicious glances and some more remarks (“I tell you it’s her.”; “Was that the PM?” “See even she thinks it was her.” “No way, she is too posh for that.”). 

“The earlier I am out of here, the better. I need the loo and so does Bea, I think.” Julia mumbled and stretched, glad to be out of there at last. 

“I get your luggage and tell Kim to check for a loo for you and her,” with that he nodded to Kim who had been staying behind as well. Momentarily, David slipped back into his PPO mode again. Julia looked down to Bea and bit the inside of her cheek as not to make her smile too apparent. This small action of David immediately jumping in front of her to take over the whole matter, made her feel warm around her heart. After all this time he still managed to make her heart beat a little faster and it never had to be a grand gesture. 

There never was a need for that. It was the little things, the small moments that just really gave her the urge to kiss him, no matter where they were. She rarely let her emotions run away with her, she usually waited for a fitting moment and used all her bottled-up energy and emotions then. For now, however, she stuck to hiding her smile and followed David, almost as if she was his Principal.

Having finally, managed to exit Glasgow Airport, it was David’s turn to transform into the tourist guide for Julia had absolutely no idea what to do now. It was not as if she wouldn’t be perfectly capable of finding her way around and it also wasn’t because she was a politician who didn’t need to bother with these things, since assistants did that job for her either In this instance, it was simply because this was David’s home and so she trusted him to get them where they were supposed to end up: Elderslie.

Not a moment too late, almost as if he had read her mind, David turned around, as if he was looking for something. 

“And now, we need to make our way to the bus station.”

“Excuse me?” her reply had come out more flabbergasted as she had meant it to. The mere idea of entering a bus, security detail or not, was out of the question. It made her stomach turn.

“The bus. If we want to get to Elderslie, we need one. So we better make our way there.”

“David, I won’t board a local bus with dozens of other people and a baby!…” at this point RH Julia Montague MP had come out and was ready to show her claws.

“Well, alternatively, we could use this car over there,” David commented completely unfazed, pointing at a grey Nissan driving towards their direction. The mixture of incredulity, fury and confusion on Julia’s face, was almost David’s demise or the one of his little act of pulling her leg. Still, he managed to remark a stoic 

“That’s my dad picking us up.” 

Only now, Julia realised he had been joking and a “you bastard” had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and almost clutched her hand over her mouth, looking down at the baby seat on the pavement. That still didn’t stop her from leaning into him to repeat it again - almost in a whisper this time - emphasizing it with a chosen curse word and an “I will get you for that.”

“Can’t wait.” David now smirked at her and then waved for his father to notice them.

“Hello, dad!”

David’s dad had gotten out of the car by now, had greeted both of them and was now crouching in front of Bea’s baby seat to say hello to his youngest granddaughter. She, on the other hand, had had more than enough with all the sitting in the baby seat and was downright grumpy by now and about to start whining as Richard looked up to her mother to ask for permission to take her up. 

She nodded in agreement and cooed to her daughter as David made work to get the luggage into the Nissan. 

“She has had it with being cooped up in this contraption all day,” Julia murmured as her daughter held onto her index finger with her tiny hand and the last few tears were rolling down her face. Richard was rocking her gently until she was finally consoled enough to realize that it was not her dad who was rocking her but someone entirely different and she stared at him, completely dumbstruck and deciding that mummy was the safer place to be for the moment.

“Well, that should do the trick for now,” the older man replied dryly as he handed her back to Julia, “We should go before Carolyn sends out a search hunt for us. She has been beside herself ever since you said you’d come and it took everything in her not to blurt it out to anyone. But she persevered. David, why didn’t you bring Ella and Charlie as well?”

When they were finally on their way to Elderslie and David explained that Vicky had them for the first three weeks and took them on vacation to visit relatives and how he had to swear to the two of them that they would be able to spend the next two weeks with David and Julia, so they could spend as much time with Bea as possible. 

The Budds house was located more on the outskirts of the small town with a fantastic view of the landscape around them. It was a lovely, albeit very rural part of the UK. Julia had visited similar towns before, but knowing that this was where David had grown up, added a little extra charm to it. 

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Carolyn ran towards us the second she sees the car,” Richard commented as they finally rounded the corner to the street. True to his word, Carolyn stood there, beaming at them and Julia couldn’t hide a smile. 

Even though she was sitting in the back of the car by custom with a sulking kid next to her, she couldn’t help but see her wave. 

Some nearly bone-crushing hugs, kisses and general bubbliness later, Carolyn had shooed them inside and showed them to their rooms, one-bedroom for David and Julia and the bedroom usually occupied by Ella and Charlie, had gotten additional baby equipment.

“Did you buy all that stuff, mum?” David nearly blurted out as he saw the masses of toys she had stacked up in the children’s room.

“Not all of it, no. Some toys were still from Ella and Charlie, some things are yours and the rest is new.”

“That’s brilliant… wow,” almost overwhelmed by it all, just like his daughter who had aimed straight for the squishy toys in the corner, closely observed by Julia who eventually decided to sit down next to the toys. 

Julia took one of the balls and rolled it towards Bea who looked at the object in wonderment before she tried to grab it with her little fingers to imitate her mother. Playing with Bea, talking to her, seeing how her mind took in everything, how she began to understand, constantly learned by looking at the grand and the tiny things, gave Julia a whole new perspective on life. 

It was a perspective that was quite new to her and she enjoyed it immensely. All due to that little life that she and David had created. Julia could get used to spending hours playing with Bea, helping her become the person she wanted to be. More often than not, she could forget all the stress, all the pressure and all the shit from work by just sitting there and observing her. Usually, it was not as long and as she would like to, this is why she cherished these moments. 

This time was no different. David knew as soon as she had sat down next to their daughter, that this was a lost cause now, that whatever his mother had planned for her, would have to wait. Judging Carolyn’s nudge to get him out of the room to catch up with him in the kitchen told him that she knew.

As it neared afternoon, Bea had finally exhausted herself and had fallen asleep cuddled up to an equally worn-out mum, David had relieved Julia off her duties and put the little one into bed and put his parents on babysitting duties, so he could finally snatch his girlfriend and show her his hometown. 

He could tell that Julia needed to get out of the house, that she needed some fresh air and general distraction as she seemed pretty worn out. The past few weeks particular had been pretty rough on her, all the bills that had to be pushed through Parliament, all the extra hours, all the sheer endless hours in meetings that sometimes ended in the middle of the night, only for Julia to come home to sink into bed exhausted and miserable as she once again hadn’t been able to kiss her daughter goodnight and generally was too tired for anything else than cuddle up against David and sleep.

He admired her for how she persevered and always fought to get things done, yet at the same time, she put just as much if not more energy into their life at home. So, this quite unconventional holiday had been absolutely intentional as David wanted to pull her out of the drag that was her daily life in London. She needed something completely unusual to get her mind off things, that helped her refocus. What better place could there be than his home?

Just to be able to show his girlfriend where he had grown up, where he had got so drunk and in consequence had fallen off his bike when attempting to drive home, where he had gone to school, what the cool places had been and where he had to run away from a vicious dog when he ‘only wanted to take the shortcut through a garden’ at the age of 10 and how his dad had stood up for him that day. All of that he told her with vigour and zest that he was certain that no other tour guide could have done a better job. He even sprinkled a few historic facts in his tour. All the while, a few people here and there passed them, a few waved and greeted David, but barely anyone, apart from one couple, seemed to have an inkling who Julia was. 

They had been out nearly three hours when David heard the church bells chime and exclaimed a “shit, mum’s gonna kill me.” At that, a mixture of confusion and amusement washed over Julia’s face. 

“She said she had made dinner for us and told me to be on time - three times actually,” David explained rather sheepishly as he knew otherwise he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Well, Detective, get a move on then,” Julia tugged at his fingers, nudging him to lead the way. “I'm starving and my feet hurt.”

“You better be. Knowing her, she spent ages planning the perfect dinner.” 

“And are you allowed to tell me what she will serve?”

They had almost rounded the corner to their street by now, as David gave her a sideward glance and contemplated for a second “Probably not, but I’ll tell you. But Mum’s the word: Cottage Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding.”

With one of Julia’s typical “Mmm”s that had a different meaning depending on intonation and situation, she replied. David was fairly sure he had nailed down most of the different versions by now and could tell that she was curious and equally impatient. 

Walking that much wasn’t something Julia did every day. She was glad that David had spared her today and not dragged her up on of the hills you could make out in the distance. What he had in store for her tomorrow and the following days, however, was something she wasn’t quite sure whether she was able to keep up with. 

In any case, the workout regime David had devised for her after Bea’s birth was something of the past. She had never been quite as fit as she had been towards the end of their routine than during that time, but when work and her duties as PM had caught up with her at last, she managed to work out perhaps once, maybe twice a week. The last few weeks, she had fallen back into her old routine again and now, she was afraid she would be unable to walk at the end of her time here. All the amount of equipment, the hiking shoes, clothes and backpack would not be too much of a help for her either. 

Even the two and a half hours walking of around town with breaks in between, had now earned her an uneasy, tense back and sore feet. The one thing, she wanted the most after food, was a shower and one of David’s massages. 

But dinner first. David had had not promised too much. Carolyn was a proud woman and an excellent cook and managed to make everything very cosy. All of premonitions Julia’s faded away when she saw that.

Of course, she knew and liked Carolyn a lot, she also knew Richard, but so far there still was some distance. It was almost like a low wall or a hedge that was still between them. Hence she had thought it to be a little more awkward than it ultimately was. Staying in someone else’s house, was always always a bit strange. It was not your home, after all, you couldn’t just do as you pleased, you had to abide by someone else’s rules, which was fine. But experience had told her that this could go either of two ways, and she dearly hoped it was not going to end badly. 

What she was met with, was beyond anything she had expected. Dinner didn’t just speak for Carolyn’s passion for cooking, the whole atmosphere was beyond anything she had experienced so far. Julia came from a world with boundaries, strict rules and expectations, a world of debutante balls, of emotional detachment and an almost clinical approach to everything. David’s world was the complete opposite: It was warm, lived in, cosy and understanding. 

Ever since she had been with David, she had learned a lot about that, but sitting, dining, listening, talking occasionally, while feeding and tending to Bea who was perfectly relaxed, if not perfectly bubbly, Julia saw exactly where he had come from. It was almost as if she sunk into a warm, relaxing bath after a cold winter’s day, especially after the past gruelling weeks that were finally a thing of the past. 

\---------

“If you excuse me, I do need a shower,” Julia finally excused herself, after having found herself in the kitchen with Carolyn and David doing the dishes, while she had sipped at her glass of wine and talked, while Richard had rocked Bea on his lap. David was now fulfilling Bea’s nightly routine in the children’s room, changing her diaper, putting her to bed and reading her a goodnight story.

Meanwhile, Julia had soon stripped off the clothes and stepped into the shower’s soothing hot water. Steam began to cloud the shower, the mirror above the sink and the window alike and an odour of lavender filled the air as she lathered herself with her fragrant liquid. She picked up her shampoo bottle and foamed her hair with it. When the spurt of hot, steaming water let suds of soap run down her front and back, she was engulfed in steam, water and lavender. She closed her eyes as she let the stream gush into her face. At that moment she felt how all her tense muscles in her back, her neck and shoulders relaxed as the water ran down her body. She was so lost in her own little bubble that she didn’t hear the bathroom door quietly open and close again. 

A tiny voice in her mind had told her not to lock the door as she suspected David might want to join her and for some reason, she knew that nobody else would barge into the room just like that. 

She arched her back and felt how her hair tingled her shoulders when she suddenly felt fingers dance across her skin on her hip. For a moment Julia tensed, panting “David, you startled me!”, while simultaneously allowing the tension to be replaced with relaxation as she leaned against David’s wet chest. 

Physical contact and intimacy had always been important in their lives together. It was almost like one of many pillars of their relationship and it had been scarce the past weeks. Both David’s job, his new responsibilities and Julia’s pressure and the ever more outlandish working hours had made sex a rather rare commodity. 

Especially the one that was more than a quick shag, the kind of sex where they forgot about everything else around them, with no pressing matters on their minds. This night was the first night in quite some time where nothing put a damper on their love life, no work, no stress, no exhaustion, nothing and David intended to make good use of it.

“Sorry, love,” he breathed into her ear as his fingers slowly glided down towards her centre and eventually flicked over her clit, before moving one finger tentatively inside her, testing her readiness, while the other hand had started busying itself with one breast, tweaking her nipple. Julia tilted her head backwards and bit her lower lip, a whimper escaping her mouth.

“David,” she panted more laboured now, “are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Aye. My parents watch an episode of ‘ _ Who Do You Think You Are _ ’ and are on baby-phone duty, they won’t hear a thing.” 

As if that statement had settled it, he nibbled at her ear and her exposed neck, as he dipped his fingers further inside her and Julia bit back another moan that threatened to spill out of her mouth. 

She could feel his erection nestling in between her buttcheeks and all she could do was whimper, try her best as not to be as vocal as she usually was for she could not live down the thought of anyone overhearing her, when she got lost in the world, where her senses and his musky scent ruled. Nonetheless, she was lost to his touch already, her chest rose and fell and her breath was laboured as she felt an orgasm pulling at her already and she was ready to let herself be washed away with it. 

But then the ministrations stopped quite suddenly. Julia took a deep breath as if diving back up to the surface of a lake, confused. Before she could ponder and voice her frustration over the momentary loss of his touch, he had turned her around. So, now she was facing him in all his naked glory, the water of the faucet running down his body, his curls clinging to his head and eyes so irresistibly dark. 

He gave her one last wicked smile before he knelt in front of her and continued where he had left off, albeit replacing his fingers with his tongue, roaming between her folds and ultimately slipping inside her with skilled flicks, holding her thighs in place with his hands on her thighs, keeping her in place as she pressed herself into him.

At that moment, Julia had all but forgotten where they were and she moaned his name, lost in his laps and pressed herself into his mouth all the more, arching her back. She felt the blissful pressure build inside and felt an innate need to let her fingers linger on the back his head, cling onto him until she finally fell over the edge with a soundless gasp. 

David planted soft kissed onto her centre to help her calm down and only then did he make his way up, nipping at her and kissing her until he reached her breasts. At this point, however, Julia was far too impatient. She needed his mouth on hers and pulled him up in an impatient, fervent kiss with ever more increasing pressure with their tongues as they both felt they hadn’t experienced in this way in far too long. 

She wrapped her legs around his hips and felt his cock press into her core even more urgently now, the need to have him inside her almost overpowering. With her arms wrapped around his neck, she continued their fiery, passionate kiss that completely seduced her senses as pants and low moans hit the tiled walls. 

The only time they broke apart was to get some oxygen back into their lungs. David used that moment to push inside her with one thrust that provoked a surprised, yet relieved groan. 

Their need to be intertwined with each other, to be one with the other, to finally make up for lost time so intense and intoxicating, was accompanied by almost intelligible murmurs of each other names, while they drove each other towards a nearly desperate pleasure that eventually washed over them.

Heavy breathing filled the air and was the only thing to be heard the next few minutes. He didn’t immediately release her but had her pressed against the cold tiled wall, still nestled inside her and watched her as she came down from her climax, seeing how the clouded expression on her face turned into a lazy smile. 

She looked irresistible. Cheeks flushed, hair wet and tousled, lips swollen and her eyes sparkling. So, he did the only thing he could do at that moment. He kissed her. This time it was not hasty or impatient, but tender, slow and soft.

At long last, he let her down, though she was not quite sure whether her legs would carry her after that intense coupling and Julia held onto David’s shoulders for support, while he held her by her hips.

“It would honestly surprise me if your parents hadn’t overheard anything,” she finally murmured as she stepped out of the shower and handed him a towel.

“It would shock me if they had,” and with that, he too stepped out of the shower and followed Julia into the bedroom. 

“Do you still want my massage later?” David asked mischievously as Julia stood with her back to him, as she replaced her towel with a pair of sweatpants and a shirt as she could hardly go downstairs to bid his parents goodnight in a camisole.

Julia knew exactly what he was hinting at and threw him a glance over her shoulder. More often than not did his massages end in sex. Having sex once when the parents were occupied had been worth it, but doing it twice in one night was possibly risky if they didn’t want to embarrass every adult in the household. 

“Yes, I do. But don’t even think about it.”

There was no more lovemaking that night for the day had ultimately taken its toll on David as well as on Julia. All the excitement of the day, the walking, the fresh Scottish air and the sex had worn them out. So when they fell into bed later that night depleted but content, they almost immediately felt into one of the most relaxing slumbers.

In fact, her weariness of the past weeks seemed to have crashed down on Julia like a weighted blanket. Usually, she was the first to awake in the morning, mostly earlier than David even, which gave her ample time to watch David and his change in expressions as he slept and was somewhere in some distant place. Today, however, was not one of those days. For the first time since their early days, he was the first to wake up, which was endearing. 

After checking on Bea who was quickly becoming her own personality to be reckoned with and one that started teething, you could never be sure what was going on now. The baby phone had indicated nothing and when he saw the mini version of Julia cuddled up with her favourite stuffed animal, a bunny with big floppy ears, sleeping safe and sound, he knew that there was nothing to worry about. 

Actually, the entire household was still fast asleep. The only thing he could hear was the chirping of one or the other early bird. So, he tiptoed back into their bedroom and slipped back under the covers and closed his eyes again. 

When he woke up hours later by orange sunlight beaming through the curtains, suggesting one a perfect morning as it usually was up here, he still found his girlfriend fast asleep, basking in the warm sunlight, that immediately gave her an even softer aura than she exuded with him anyway. A goddess and one that had chosen him. Yet, said goddess was still out like a light. He observed her, saw how relaxed she was and never wanted to leave this room again, to always tend to her and make sure she always looked as content as she did now. 

One curl caressed her face and he had to fight the urge to swirl it around his finger and let his fingertips explore her body. Yet, he didn’t dare. She looked too peaceful, too tired. With the day they had ahead of them, she would need all the energy she could get. 

So, he watched her, pondered for the umpteenth time how lucky he was to have her. Just then she stirred as if his thoughts had woken her.

“Mornin’ sleepyhead,” David murmured as he was finally able to brush the curl out of her face.

Julia gave a contented hum and burrowed herself into her soft pillow. It certainly had been a long time since she last had slept as soundly as she had last night. Slowly and reluctantly she blinked and closed her eyes again at the onslaught of the radiant and glowing sun peaking in through the window. She felt more than saw David’s smile and blinked again. Shedding away the remnants of her heavy slumber, she stretched and arched her back like a cat, before she let herself be flop back on the mattress. Her eyes still heavy with sleep, threatening to shut again any second.

“Ready for today?” David asked playing with the hem of her shirt, letting his hand roam on her skin, drawing random patterns as he continued to watch her fight sleep.

The hum from before now turned into a groan as she nuzzled her head even further down the sheets, as it would shield her from the strenuous day she had ahead of herself. Certainly, she had let David do the planning and he was not shy of sending her on a four-hour-long hike, relying on the fitness she had had towards the end of trying to get back into shape. She really never had been in better shape, she did have to admit that with no little pride. But that was then and this was now. How and why she had agreed to this enterprise was beyond her. At the moment she felt perfectly content, to spend the rest of the day in bed with David next to her, on top of her or inside her, with Bea nestled between them and playing on the floor while they loitered on the bed until hunger would force them to get up.

But that was not his plan, at least not for today. Finally, she looked at him again, properly for the first time that day. The smirk that was now playing on his lips still gave her butterflies and she couldn’t help but reciprocate the smile. By now he had his head propped up on one elbow, while he had his other hand rested on her hip.

With a start, Julia looked up at him, sleep all but forgotten, propping herself up on her elbows herself. “What’s with Bea? I didn’t hear her on the baby phone last night.”

Giving a small chuckle, David replied “You were out like a light last night. It was almost as if someone had switched you off entirely.” By now she had started to look restless, almost as if she was ready to jump out of bed to see how her daughter was faring. 

“Don’t worry,” he continued, at last, putting Julia out of her misery, “She is fine. She was a little fussy, with a bad grace. But overall, nothing what a little soothing, talking to, a goodnight song and a cold washcloth can’t solve. After that, her tears were dried pretty quickly.”

Julia heaved a sigh and fell back into her pillow. Bea’s gums were a little sore as it looked like her first tooth wanted to make an appearance. Quite understandably, she didn’t feel comfortable and more often than not, did she show that by crying in the night and would only let herself calmed down if either David or Julia found her something cool to ease up the pain. Even that had eluded Julia that night. 

“I have to check on her, get her ready for the day,” Julia mumbled, at last, not really intending on getting up for the next few minutes. They heard someone rummaging downstairs, but the couple didn’t let itself be perturbed by that. Instead, they basked in the privacy of their bedroom. She leaned forward and stole a lazy kiss, before looking into his eyes, curious. By now, her fingers had found their way underneath his shirt to trace his scars. She always sought them out. Vicky had abhorred them, found them repulsive almost - in the beginning at least, later she wanted them gone. Yet, David didn’t see why he should rid of something that was part of his story. Julia, however, had sought them out, cherished them, accepted them for what they were, part of him.

“Thank you.” It was barely above a murmur, but honest and sincere.

“For what?”

“This,” she removed her hands from his back at last and made a lazy movement with her hand to indicate at their surrounding, “bringing me out here.”

“Well, strictly speaking, that’s also down to my mother,” quipped as a response. 

“Then I have to kiss her, too,” Julia replied, not missing a beat.

“Don’t you dare…” and with that, he pressed his warm, gentle lips against hers once more. Yet again she felt how his hands began to slide up her chest, tugging at her shirt, trying to get rid of the garment, while he simultaneously straddled her. 

“David, as much as I appreciate that,” she pressed her pelvis against his morning wood, the groan it provoked being drowned in a slightly hungrier kiss. 

“We can’t. Not now. Besides... everyone would hear us.”

David knew that as much as Julia, but it didn’t stop him from continuing with his tease and he rocked against her, tweaking a nipple. Her barely concealed heavy breathing showed that she wanted nothing more than that. Somehow that made the game even better. 

“Just you wait for tonight then,” David whispered, between kisses down her neck. Julia whimpered, fought the passion to wash over her and to lose track of everything else around her and dug her fingernails into his butt, rocking against him one last time.

“Tonight,” Julia breathed, took his lower lip in between her teeth and bit down gently. Ultimately, she let go of him, as she heard Bea over the baby phone. 

“Wicked woman,” David grunted as he moved off her, his arousal evident. Julia threw him a mischievous look, before finally getting up.

“You are just as bad.” 

Under any other circumstances, there would be no way she would not devour him, scratch that itch, but right now a cold shower would have to do, for there really was no time.

Despite their unresolved sexual need that morning, David was almost exuberant. That expressed itself in a perfectionism Julia only knew too well. She knew that everything he loved and put his mind to got his full attention. This adventure had increased his enthusiasm even further. 

As soon as Julia come downstairs, Bea in her arm who found Julia’s twinkling necklace increasingly fascinating. Everything seemed to be prepared and Julia hadn’t even had her coffee yet. Carolyn, meanwhile, was bustling about the kitchen, almost unable to sit down even for a minute. Too great was her excitement to have so many people in her house. 

Richard, meanwhile, exuded the stoicism, Julia only knew too well from David. The kind of impassivity that made it difficult to read him in the first place. With David, she had learned pretty quickly how to read him, but his father was stoicism on a different level. That changed instantly upon seeing his little granddaughter, which got the full grandpa Budd treatment, much to the little one’s delight. 

After a breakfast that was far more extensive than Julia was used to and some last instructions so the grandparents wouldn’t have any problems with Bea (“Julia, love, you do realize I have raised a child before?”) who might hopefully not cry too much when her parents left for a few hours. Separation anxiety was the one big issue, Julia and David were concerned with and some other day, they would take her with them, but today might be too strenuous for her. Besides that, Carolyn and Richard had fought tooth and nail to be able to spend some quality time with the youngest of the Budd clan. 

It hadn’t been easy for Julia to leave her behind for such a long time, as she had never been away from her for more than three hours and she knew that Bea would be in the safest of hands. Still, the idea tugged at her heartstrings and she was not entirely sure she was ready to leave. The hiking itself sounded exhausting as it was and she was certain she would not be able to walk tomorrow, but leaving her daughter behind might be one reason to blow it off. Still, she could not do this to David. 

So, with a heavy heart and not without kissing her daughter goodbye and telling her, she would be back soon, did she follow David out of the door, leaving back a confused daughter. David squeezed her hand and encouraged her to smile again as he felt how conflicted she was.

“It’s all going to be just fine, Julia,” and she really tried to believe him.

Dressed in grey jeans, matching hiking boots, a blue shirt, a jacket of the same colour as the trousers and a backpack, they set off for their ascent. According to David, he hadn’t chosen the longest of the several routes, but a good middle way, one that showed off the region perfectly. 

Julia did see how peaceful and beautiful it was, all the various shades of green of the hills, the eerie quietness of the forest or the crystal blue sky. It was a beautiful place. But as predicted, Julia felt that her fitness was not up to scratch. David was already five steps ahead, telling her about this way or that way, what you could see when you took a detour and how they would find out at some point during their vacation, but Julia felt how her legs began to burn. Yet giving him the gratification of giving up, or anyone for that matter was simply out of the question. So, she gritted her teeth and marched on. 

The first time David decided for a small break as he needed a wee was some two hours later. Never had Julia been more grateful, as she found a rock and leaned against it, stretching her legs, taking a big swig of her bottle. As exhausted as she already was, David really had been right. She had gotten everything else out of her mind entirely. In all this time here, there hadn’t been one minute when she thought of her political life in London, of her duties or work that only waited to mock her once she was back. It all seemed so far away as she was here, trying not to show just how much she did not want to continue walking. But then she did want to get back to her daughter, that was the last push that kept her going.

“It’s not far from now and you will get one of the best views on the valley here, after that we can make our way back.”

Much to Julia’s chagrin, he still seemed as fit as a fiddle, just the way when they had started this hike and just as she thought they would never get out of that forest again, did David take her hand as they finally stepped out of it onto a great green plain, with one of the most beautiful outlooks, Julia had ever seen. 

Her feet were sore, the soles of her feet felt as if they were on fire and she knew her thighs would show her just how much she had walked today and her back was tense, but this view was a sight to behold. 

“Come on, there is a great spot over there where we can sit down.”

As Julia sank down on the ground, at last, to be able to sit for more than five minutes, she never wanted to leave again. 

“You look beat,” David commented as he laid down next to her, squinting his eyes to shield them from the sun.

“That’s because I am. I won’t be able to make a single step tomorrow and before you say anything, I mean hiking, not sex,” was Julia’s dry response as she raised an eyebrow.

David smirked at her, before sobering up again. “You are great though. I am impressed.” 

Julia said nothing to that but the gratified smile told David everything he needed to know. He sat up and pulled Julia to him, a squeal and some rummaging later, Julia leant against David’s chest, while sitting in between his legs, as he had his arms around her waist. Julia closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the moment of being out there alone, only with David by her side. 

“Would you marry me?” The question was out before he could think about his words and the enormity of them. The day, the atmosphere and having her here at home had been an almost lethal combination for his emotions. It was a question that had roamed in David’s head from time to time, yet they had always been pretty content with their life as it was, that the thought had never really stayed in his mind for long. In fact, they had actually never talked about it, not seeing the need to. 

So, he wasn’t even sure on her stand on marriage. Sure, she had been married before, but that had been an unmitigated disaster. But now, as they were sitting there, intertwined and happy, there was nobody he would rather want to do this with than with Julia. Why not make this official? 

“Yes, I would,” was her quiet admission, not wanting to disrupt the silence around them. David let out the breath he had been holding and stared at her. He wasn’t quite sure what he had expected. Still, he couldn’t help but marvel at her. Part of him had been almost certain she wouldn’t want to marry again. But then she had also almost shocked him, by telling him “he was her choice” all those months ago. He hadn’t expected that either.

Julia felt his look burning her and turned her head to look at him. The smallest of smiles appeared on her face upon seeing his dumbstruck expression. 

“Don’t be so shocked, of course, I would. I can’t even imagine not being without you anymore.”

The only thing he could do at this point was to lean down into a kiss and the world around them fell away. It was slow, soft and tender, where words had failed him, his actions spoke for themselves. As they finally parted, at last, a pensiveness flicked across her face. 

“What is it?” David asked, suddenly worried if Julia hadn’t gotten misgivings after all. 

“Can we postpone telling your parents for just a little while?”

David was not sure what she was aiming at, but something was going on in her mind, whether it was cold feet or if there was another reason for it. So, after looking at her for a moment, he hesitated: “... sure… why?”

Julia looked at him for a moment, turned her words over in her head, pondering for a moment. 

“As far as I judge your parents, your mother, in particular, she would want to start planning our wedding the minute we tell her. But the thing is, I don’t want a big wedding. If it was possible, it would only be the two of us, in a registry, making our vows, because, at the end of the day, it is just the two of us. Not my mother, not yours or your father and I would like to keep it between us...”

“Julia,… it’s fine, I perfectly understand.”

He did. David understood her reluctance of sharing something quite as intimate and emotional with anyone else but him. She had come a long way of opening up, showing her softer side to other people, mainly his parents and her mother, but those emotions mainly concerned their daughter, but not their relationship. As he saw it, their relationship was still something sacred, something that started behind closed doors, evolved behind closed doors and even though they were in the public eye now and had shared their love with others, she was still a highly private person.

He heard her breathe out in relief and saw her look up at him gratefully. She hadn’t gotten cold feet, that feeling was almost just as elating as the fact that she wanted to marry him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, only emphasising his stance. 

\--------

Even now, a couple of hours after they had started hiking, he could still smell faint traces of her perfume. David was not exactly sure how she did that, but being entangled with her, her smell ensnaring his senses, he had an idea that was so out of the blue, that he wasn’t even sure if it was a good idea or not, but the words were out before he could stop them.

“Why don’t we get married here then?”

Julia straightened up and turned around to him, untangled from his embrace, taken aback. “What?”

“Let’s get married here Elderslie, while we are still by ourselves and without any security or prying London eyes. It wouldn’t have to be anyone but the two of us, maybe Bea could be with us, but we can still decide on that.”

“David, you are aware that there is a 15 days notice after we buy a license.”

“So? We could go and buy the license tomorrow, figure out the rest during our stay here and get married in the registry here. No big fuss, just the two of us. London would never know.”

As he explained himself, words bubbling out of his mouth, almost tumbling over each other in excitement, unable to stop his enthusiasm at the thought. It would be the perfect way to make this happen, her face changed from scepticism to an almost imperceptible smile that resembled approval of the plan.

“I would like that.” 

Her smile had broadened now, and she looked at him not unlike the moment under the bedsheets all the while ago when he realized he was losing his heart to her. All he could do at that moment was to pull her into another kiss, as he felt her fingers curling around his neck, pulling him close.

The betrothed didn’t stay for much longer as they needed to get back before nightfall. Julia was a little more vocal about her sore legs as they made their descent, but even that could not stop David from marvelling at his favourite grumbling Londoner. 

\--------

Later that night as they lay in bed, long after David had spent an extensive amount of time massaging almost every inch of Julia’s body and swallowing her whines and moans with his kisses, Julia lay awake in bed and turned around to David.

“David?” Julia whispered tentatively, not wanting to wake him in case he was asleep after all. “David? Are you awake?”

A rumbling noise that sounded like a muffled “aye” to Julia’s ears told her he was. She waited for him to turn his head around to face her. She could just about make out his features in the dark, Some rustling of the bedsheets later, he faced her, eyes barely open, but she could tell he was awake. 

“David, I’ve been thinking… I want a prenup before we get married.”

His eyes were open now, fully fixed on her and his breathing had changed. He disagreed. Or inclined to disagree. So, Julia continued voicing her thoughts, before any misunderstandings could come up.

“Finances or any kind of money can be extremely detrimental and toxic to relationships, I have seen it first hand. It is the one thing people never believe can do any harm, but at some point, people end up fighting just because of it. If there is any way to prevent this from happening, from entering our marriage fair, to ensure that your children - Ella and Charlie - that certain assets are preserved for them and making sure that any financial issues won’t be transferred on to the other person, I want to do that.”

David still said nothing, remained his stoic self and listened. The darkness made it impossible for Julia to read him. 

“That does not mean, that I don’t think our marriage won’t last. If there is one person in this world I want to grow old with, it’s you, but I am still a barrister after all and not having a prenuptial agreement would almost be irresponsible for the both of us.”

David took in a deep breath and repositioned himself, leaning onto his elbow now, while he still watched her intently. “Sure…if you want that.”

His reply was very monosyllabic and Julia knew that this was not what they liked to talk about, and that was exactly why she had to address it, why the prenup was so important. 

“I do want that. Please, David, understand that this had got nothing to do with you or me or me being a woman who is having more power and money. It’s to protect our relationship.”

“No, it’s fine. I do understand that. It’s just, I didn’t expect it or had even considered it. I never really had as much money, you do and you want to protect that and not make it an issue for us.”

“You do?”

“Aye.”

“But you don’t like it.”

“No, I think it is a good idea. I was just taken aback, but yes, let’s get that prenup. It’s not like we will ever need it… But will you manage to get one or devise one until we get married?”

“I will get in contact with our lawyer, we will come up with a good agreement. Once we all went over it, we will sign it, send it back to him and that’s that.”

Another hum. Julia couldn’t resist and raked her fingers through his tousled curls and leaned in for a kiss, thanking him. As she leaned back into her pillow, her hand still in his hair, she could feel how he had relaxed again.

“David, there is something else... I want to keep my name.”

“Aye, alright and I want to keep mine.”

A chuckle reverberated through the room and she finally removed her hand from his hair and leaned in once again to give him a lingering kiss. In the darkness of the night, a passion ignited. Any bewilderment and qualms they had had, melted away and pure want, love and ache for each other took their place. Any misunderstanding was replaced by caresses, thrusts and hot, fiery kisses. Every touch only seemed to deepen their need for each other. In a hot frenzy of groans and cries, that could barely be concealed by either of them, not that any of the lovers were in any way capable of reducing their sounds, they moaned in ecstasy.

As they fell asleep at some point during the night, neither of them thought that this one time they would not get away with it. 

\--------

Breakfast had become some sort of a ritual, it certainly was one for the Budds and now Julia and her little bud joined right in. They would take their time, have breakfast together and talk about their plans for the day. It wasn’t any different that morning. 

Julia had just cut some pieces of fruit for Bea and started feeding her with some porridge, Richard put down his cup and made a remark that had Julia freeze for a second before her acting skills as a politician kicked back in and she managed to remain unfazed. David’s ears, however, began to glow bright red as he vehemently stared down at his plate.

“What was that noise last night? Has any of you heard it? Could have been a rowdy cat… ouch, what was that for Carolyn?” 

Carolyn had been more than aware of what that noise had been, and had not expected for her husband to bring it up at the breakfast table of all places and be so completely oblivious to it in the first place. Yet, the moment, Carolyn’s foot met his shin and he gave his wife an indignant look, he noticed his son’s body language and the state of his ears and his mouth formed a perfect “o”, before hemming and swiftly changing the subject.

\--------

Amidst all of the domesticity, David and Julia planned the few things, they had to work out. Taking Julia and Bea around town, have some downtime from the hike from the day before was the perfect pretence to go to the registry, to buy that license. 

The middle-aged woman working in the registration office had been more than shocked when Julia entered her office, stated her name and told her what she wanted. 

It almost looked as if the woman wanted to drop her pen out of sheer nervousness. She fumbled with her papers but eventually seemed to calm down to actually do her job. Neither David nor Julia really paid mind to it. Especially Julia had no interest in an anxious registry officer. There was a job at hand and she was paid to do it. David, too, stayed stoic and more patient than Julia as he felt her impatience and hoped for the woman’s sake that she would get a move on. 

“So, that would be it. You are eligible to get married in fifteen days. Who will be your witnesses?” The lady asked with as much confidence and nonchalance as she could muster. 

David was quicker at answering than Julia. They didn’t have any and so two registry officers volunteered to be witnesses. Julia couldn’t help but overhear a young officer whispering to a lanky slightly older one how utterly romantic this was, and Julia supposed she was right. 

\--------

The next fortnight almost passed in a blur, with secret preparations with the prenup and a trip to Glasgow, where the found a white suitable trouser suit in the only Gucci shop the city had to offer.

“What do you expect, this is not London, Julia. You can also go to Hollister or Urban Outfitters as alternatives,” David commented dryly as she gaped at him at the lack of options she was offered. But even in Glasgow, people did not dare ask if she really was the PM. So, Julia did have a relatively relaxing afternoon. 

Among all this excitement, the walks, hikes and the aching muscles, all of them noticed how Bea seemed to start vocalizing and babbling, as if she realized that she could make sense of what she wanted, to bring across if she was happy, sad or frustrated. Julia’s heart literally skipped a beat when observing her daughter making her first mini-steps towards using her voice. 

If anyone would have told her before that she would understand all the cooing sounds, the different whines and various tones of her babbling, she would have written it off as maternal stuff she had nothing to do with. Now, however, it made sense to her and with each day, as Bea learned even the tiniest thing, her heart swelled in pride. 

Some time halfway through their vacation, David stormed into the living room on a rainy afternoon, Bea on his arm, completely oblivious as to why her father was so out of sorts. She looked at him almost as mystified as her mother did whenever someone talked to her and all she understood was words, but no meaning was behind them. 

“She just said her first word,” David spluttered, “She said my name!”

The rest of the day was centred around Bea. It really was a good distraction, too, so Carolyn and Richard didn’t get wind of Julia and David’s secret endeavour. But that day she kept marvelling at her little one in wonderment, never wanting to miss a moment in her life and making a promise to never let work get in the way of any that or of what she had been enjoying the past few days. 

\--------

Once the big day rolled around, nobody knew or had even an inkling of the affair. That day, they left Bea at home with Carolyn and ventured out to the registry. It was a sunny day as the clouds had finally cleared. Thankfully it was chilly enough for Julia to wear a long coat so that nobody noticed the white trouser suit she wore. David couldn’t help but comment on how gorgeous she looked and how he was even more excited to take off the ridiculously expensive suit later. A barely concealed smile had played across her lips then.

Her hands were in a slight tremor as they entered the small registry, and David took her hand, squeezing it lightly, only to be reciprocated by her not letting go of his hand. She had never thought she would marry again. Least of all, like this. There absolutely was no fuss, no big party, no endlessly congratulations and best wishes, of kisses here and there when all she wanted was to be with her spouse. It was absolutely perfect and completely in contrast to her first wedding. Everything was so different with David and she was ready to embark on that journey, but still have this as their secret. Just the way their relationship had started. 

So, when they finally took their vows, promised to be there for one another every day and to pledge their lives to each other and one witness dabbed away some tears and the other one took some pictures for the two, it was just as it should be. Just the two of them and for now it was their little secret. 


	2. Exams and Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David is finally finished with his detective training and Julia has a little surprise for him. But will everything go as planned?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by a prompt of @akh who I dedicate this to. :)
> 
> Thanks to each and every one of you who left such amazing comments. I really do appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback.

> _ “We are pleased to inform you, that your National Investigation Exam will take place on 25th May..., 10.30 am….,” David read in an undertone, skimming the letter he was holding.  _

It had been a grim Wednesday, rainy, cold and full of work and pressure, not to mention the exam stress. This had been the one thing he had reservations about. The practical part of the training had never been an issue, the classes themselves hadn’t been an issue either. He enjoyed learning and it was fundamental to know the regulations and the law behind it. After all, he was married to a criminal barrister, now Prime Minister, who never shied away to let him know about the importance of the theoretical part of it all, whenever he did start to groan about it. 

But the pressure of learning it all, being able to apply it to real-life situations, to come up with such situations and apply all his theoretical knowledge with all its facts, paragraphs and numbers, gave him the feeling of being in secondary school all over again. It was as if he was the young man who had tried to get into medical school but hadn’t known how to go on about it, despite studying a lot to actually be able to achieve his dream. The only difference now, despite his age difference and the choice of profession was the woman acting as constant support, who had even let herself be bribed into quizzing him in exchange for sex. 

So, actually he felt pretty good about it, but the pang of anxiety was still prevalent. But the two years he now had under his belt, were training enough and one little exam shouldn’t stop him from achieving his dream to start working at the London CID. 

“Do you think it might be possible for you to join me for a little celebration afterwards with me and my mates and some other colleagues in the police department? I know, it might be a lot to ask, but for once you would not have to worry about security…,” David trailed off looking at Julia hopefully. 

Under any other circumstances, he would not even consider asking her, for he knew what stress it would entail for Julia, but this was a big milestone in his life and there was nothing he would love and appreciate more than to have the most important person in his life celebrate it with him. 

Julia, sitting on the couch, skimming over a report, looked up, raked a hand through her hair, her expression unreadable. “David, it’s late and I’ve still got work to do. Can we talk about this some other time?”

It was a poor excuse, she was aware of it as much as anyone, but addressing his question now, a question she had known would come up sooner or later, would mean that she had to expose her secret plans for him. So, she hoped he would accept it for now.

A little stumped at her response or lack thereof, David stared at her somewhat gobsmacked before mumbling an “Aye, alright.” before shuffling off into the kitchen to get a beer, not quite sure what to make of Julia’s behaviour. She seemed perfectly cool, distant almost, which didn’t quite make sense to him. He knew her well enough to predict her responses to situations and questions. That, however, was not what he had expected. Up till now, she had supported him along the way, even it had been mostly moral support. This was the first time he had asked for her presence somewhere, surely that should be possible. At least he had assumed as much.

David, leaned back against the counter, taking a last gulp of his beer and then pushed himself off to check on their daughter and his kids, who were spending the week with them. They must be asleep by now. At least he hoped so, meanwhile not trying to pay mind to his wife.

As he passed, Julia had to bite her tongue as not to appease her husband, put him out of his misery. All the pondering, the overthinking, the worrying and travelling down old, dark paths of insecurity and rejection would try to find a place in the front row again and possibly open the door to misunderstandings. Julia hoped it would not be quite as bad. She had to swallow the bitter pill, for now, ignored him and left her eyes focused on the screen of her laptop.

Sex later that night was just a tad rougher than usual, which was not bad, quite on the contrary. Both liked it rough from time to time and weren’t afraid of letting out some unspoken feelings that way, but this time both were more than aware of the cause.

What David didn’t know just yet, and would hopefully only find on the day of his exam, was that Julia had indeed started planning a little post-exam/ DC-David-Budd-CID surprise party for him. Well, her assistant had, albeit with clear instructions from Julia on everything. It wouldn’t be anything too big, with his colleagues, old and new. It was something she usually didn’t do. If it was anyone else but David, she would refuse to even participate in such a thing, not to mention arranging it, but this was David and she knew just how important this training was to him, how much it meant to him to have her there, and so she had compromised, jumped over her own shadow and started planning this thing on her own, to have everything under control.

It was still a fortnight till David’s exam and for the next few days, Julia buried herself in her duties as PM with sheer endless amounts of sessions in Parliament. It was not all purely voluntary but it was part of the job description. On the upside, she was able to allege work as a pretext for being unable to come forth with her answer to his question. The downside was that she missed her daughter, even though she had her at work, at least on days when she was only at her office. It was not nearly enough time for her and the pang of guilt hit her every time she looked into the blue orbs of her little two-year-old, who was constant a ray of sunshine and full of shenanigans. But it wasn’t just Bea who had to suffer from her workload. There was a general undercurrent at the moment, an irritation from David’s side at her behaviour. 

Initially, he had accepted her statement, even if he didn’t know why she was being really rather secretive about it, almost like the time when she wouldn’t tell him how she had known about Ella and Charlie’s school. With the difference that this had been a state secret and the thing now, was merely a post-exam celebration. But as the days passed by, her radio silence turned his irritation into anger. 

“Julia, I don’t understand how you can’t simply tell me if you will come or not…,” David wondered in bed after spending half the time studying. The question had been roaming around his head whenever he had taken a break, either to take care of his little one or to grab some food. Now it almost burst out of him like steam out of an old-fashioned tea kettle. 

Julia sighed and looked up at him. It wasn’t annoyance, it was weariness more like, for him to not simply let it rest and give her the time she needed. Henceforth her reply was rather offhand, almost exasperated. 

“David, can’t you let the matter rest?”

“No, I can’t, when I don’t get a simple yes or not or at least a reason for your silence!” 

Something in the tone of her voice had been the last straw and consequently had taken off the lid of the box off his well-guarded emotions, especially his chagrin. So, his remark was a biting one, one that required raising his voice.

“David, keep your voice down! You’ll wake Bea!”

He looked at her, his jaw clenching, taking in an audible breath and hissed under his breath, “If you don't care about me and my career, just bloody well, say so! I know it's not anything compared to being the Prime Minister."

He knew he had gone too far the second the words had slipped out of his mouth and he knew they were perfectly detrimental on a level he was not entirely prepared for. His anger had run away with him and taken hostage of his mind and his mouth and even if he should take back all the words, he simply could not and would not bring himself to do so. He was too furious. 

It wasn’t as if he could take it back for the minute he had uttered the words, Julia’s whole body language changed, she built up a wall, David saw it in her face. She turned from Julia, his beloved wife, to a cool politician who let absolutely nothing through her armour. The only thing you saw was her ire simmering beneath the surface. 

“Honestly, David, fuck you.” 

By now she had sat up again and glared at her husband. Of course, she cared. The lengths to which she had gone the past few days to get everything done in time and keep it secret from the idiot sitting next to her, had almost taken on the scale of a state affair. And yes, her attempt at evading his question was very inelegant and quite unlike her, but one thing she was unable to do was to lie to him. What she resented, however, was that he would actually think that she didn’t care. 

They had been happily married for a little more than a year and been together for much longer. It was disappointing that he thought that little of her. It was more than disappointing, actually. She was hurt and felt unsafe with her own words and had to physically bite back a remark that would only make things worse. 

Instead of going down the route she would as a politician, which was to attack him, she retreated entirely, slumped back on her mattress with her back to him and pulled up her blanket a bit too forcefully, ignoring him entirely. She felt his anger prickling down her back, though it probably was a mix of both of their emotions running high. 

After what felt like an eternity, waiting with bated breath, she felt the mattress dip and heard him shuffle out from underneath his blanket.

“Fine,” was a single murmur she heard before the sound of his footsteps left the bedroom. If Julia hadn’t been so hurt, she would have followed him, made an attempt to talk things through, make things right, but he would have to live with the consequences of his words for now. 

There wasn’t a single thing she heard for the next hour or so. Sleep was something that eluded her that night, the fight with David was too aggravating. Besides, she was so used to having him sleep next to her, to feel his body and his warmth, protecting her, so she was now having trouble finding even a remote sense of calmness without his presence. Without the sound of his breathing, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. 

Julia’s bedsheet felt cold and her body felt stiff as a board. She hated how her anxiety crept up and showed its ugly face. She could check on him, see if he might not want to come back to bed after all. But that would also mean that she would have to jump over her own shadow, swallow her pride and be ready to admit some fault on her part. She had done nothing wrong, aside from avoiding to give him an answer to his question. 

She strained her ears, tried to hear some possible movement outside the bedroom, contemplated if she should actually go to the living room in the first place, where she expected him to be. 

Slowly and deliberately, Julia got out of bed and made her way to the door. Was this really a good idea? Julia halted just as she stood in the doorframe. Even slower and quieter and less confident than before, did Julia tiptoe towards the living room. It was a bad idea. What would she say? How would she justify her behaviour without giving away everything? Also, how dare he insinuate that her job was more important to her than he was? The anger, she had managed to keep at bay that had almost entirely been replaced by worry, was back. Julia stopped, barely being able to make out his outline on the couch. No, she would not appease and try to get him back to bed. 

She turned back around and made her way back into the bedroom instead. The movement had not eluded David. He, too, missed Julia and sleeping on the couch was not nearly as comfortable as was having her frame wrapped up around him, while her smell invaded his senses as he fell asleep. He loved her and her infuriatingly beautiful face so much. But at the moment, she was almost entirely infuriating, still beautiful, but too aggravating. For him, insomnia would be his companion tonight. 

So, even before Julia had rounded the corner to the living room, his instincts had alerted him of an ‘intruder’. He had been more than aware of her presence, but couldn’t bear to talk to her right now and pretended to sleep. Luckily, she had turned around again and left him - to sulk in peace. 

That night was a short one. Neither Julia nor David had gotten much sleep if any at all. In fact, just as Julia could make out the first rays of sunshine, she got up and took an extensive shower to feel less drained of energy and more like herself. The last thing she needed today was if she stood beside herself. 

As she let the hot water cascade down her body, her muscles relaxed slightly. Only after she had finally dabbed on some cover stick to conceal the bags she felt she had under her eyes did she have the feeling of being able to get through the day halfway unscathed. 

When Julia finally exited her bedroom, dressed to the nines in a dark blue pantsuit, matched with a burgundy blouse, her curls bobbing up and down on her shoulders, it was almost 7 am and time to wake Bea. She was not quite sure how to face David without being angry at him still. It was bound to be awkward. She expected nothing less. 

As if David had tried to avoid his wife just as much as she did with him, he waited until she had passed the living room to check on their daughter and then entered the bathroom himself. Shame had crept up his spine and made its appearance. Mingled with the remnants of his anger and lack of understanding of her behaviour had made for an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, which needed sorting out before he was able to face Julia. 

His senses were instantly invaded by traces of her perfume when he entered the bathroom, which gave him the urge to go after her and pin her against the next wall and have her then and there. Anger had never stopped them before. Quite on the contrary. But this time it was different somehow. There wasn’t just the matter of their little one being awake now and that time was a rather pressing matter, with his exam on his mind. No, he had insulted her and he knew it had been unfair on his part. It had slipped out just at that moment and he knew that it might take a while for her to forgive him. So, he ignored the signs his body sent him and stepped into the shower himself. 

Meanwhile, Julia woke Bea, ignoring David who constantly invading her mind.

“Good morning, sleepy head, time to wake up!”

Bea’s tousled head slowly turned around to her and gave a definite shake of her head. “No,” came a squeaky yawn, enhanced by another shake of her head and more rubbing of her eyes. This had become her favourite word as of recent. In general, she began to show more defiant behaviour, her opinion on things and began to make first attempts to become her own person. It didn’t matter if she was only able to speak with three and four-word sentences. 

Finally, her little hands had left her face and two blue eyes looked at her grumpily. Bea was definitely not a morning person and as hard as Julia tried to take her little one seriously, she simply had to smile and kiss the top of her head. 

“Come on, we have a big day ahead of us.”

With that, she helped her daughter out of bed and got her ready for the day. It was David’s big day and despite their little tiff, she would, of course, come to this post-exam celebration, with Bea in tow. She had even gotten a dress for the very same reason and Bea had not been able to be deterred from not choosing a hairband in form of a flower crown, which was also waiting at Downing Street.

Bea’s grumpiness in the mornings transferred onto her pace of getting things done and her willingness to get a move on. This morning was one of those times. Julia, despite the fact of empathising with her, Julia was suddenly glad to have gotten up at such an ungodly hour. 

“Bea, it surely can’t take quite so long to use the loo,” Julia finally sighed once she noticed that Bea had almost fallen asleep again. After what felt like an eternity, the two-year-old was finally ready and had been seated at the breakfast table and was now munching on some toast. 

Up till she had Bea, Julia had never really cared for taking time for breakfast. It has been a necessity and one she usually solved by eating something on the way or at work. She simply had not taken the time for it, thought she needed the time for work. As Bea came along, things had changed. Julia was still not the person who loved breakfasts and was also not a person who could eat much in the morning, but she tried for Bea, to give her the routine, the safety and some downtime with her family.

“Do you want any more toast?” Julia asked as she turned around and sat down with her cup of coffee. “No,” came her protest in between munches. Seeing the state of her daughter’s mouth and henceforth fearing for her outfit, Julia grabbed a towel and carefully cleaned the jam off Bea’s mouth, mumbling a barely audible “There you go” before taking another sip of the hot beverage. 

While watching her daughter, listening to her morning rambles, she kept slipping back into her own thoughts about her and David’s fight. She wasn’t quite sure if she was able to pretend everything was fine, not even for her daughter, especially since she knew, Bea would pick up on it sooner rather than later. Besides, what would she say once David entered the kitchen?

At that moment, Julia heard footsteps. She visibly tensed, tightening the grip on her cup, unable to look up and look him in the eye. If she did, she might say something she didn’t want to say, a comment that was better left unsaid or a remark that actually was entirely gratuitous to the discussion at hand.

“Da-da!” forgotten was the morning toast and the cup of cocoa in her happiness to see her dad, yet oblivious to a tension you could have cut with a butterknife. 

“Morning, princess,” David exclaimed and almost smothered her with kisses that made their girl giggle ferociously. Only after he had pointed to Bea’s discarded toast to “eat up”, did he finally look up to meet Julia’s eyes and pressed out an almost strangled “morning” to her.

In this moment of seemingly domestic bliss, she had let down her guard to her thoughts. When he ultimately caught her eye, he could see a myriad of emotions in them, before the guard was back up and she was cool and distant again. The perfect politician. Never let emotions and feelings get in the way of the bigger picture. 

Still, in that split second, he saw it all: anger, discomfort, disappointment, uncertainty. It was almost a mirror to his own thoughts, just that he had added guilt to the picture. If he hadn’t been so angry at her still, he would have marvelled at how in sync even their minds had grown at this point. But before he could mull over her, she had gotten up, not reciprocating his morning greeting, but putting her empty cup and Bea’s empty dishes in the dishwasher, only then turning around to him once more. She still looked completely devoid of emotions to an outsider, but judging by the tension of her body and by her clipped voice, he knew that what he had just witnessed was only the tip of the iceberg. 

“Good luck in your exam today,” and with that, she re-focused back on her daughter and shooed her out of the kitchen and helped her put her shoes and her coat on. 

“Julia, can we talk?” David had followed them out of the kitchen and now leaned somewhat awkwardly against the doorframe in the hallway. Julia had just tied the second of Bea’s shoelaces and didn’t even grace him with a look and replied with a cool “Not now. I have to be at number 10 in half an hour.”

“I don’t mean now, I mean later, after my exam.”

Julia looked at him briefly. She saw, heard and felt the remorse, but she could neither address it not nor think about it. Not now anyway. “Later.” A flicker of relief flit across his face and he gave her a curt nod. 

“I think we’ve finally got everything, now come on,” Bea grabbed the outstretched hand of her mum and followed her outside, stopping short in front of her father who crouched down. “Now, you will be my good girl, won’t you?” 

A nod, not unlike her father’s, was the answer and he gave her a kiss, before standing up again, immediately rolling in the desire to kiss his wife goodbye as well, although she was the most infuriating person he knew. It was not the right time. She was still angry and a bit like a bomb that was ready to go off at any minute if being treated the wrong way. Instead, he opened the door for them and gave Julia another look. 

“See you later,” he monotonously answered, unable to keep the chilliness and disappointment over her lack of an answer for the post-exam celebration out of his voice. 

A last quick glance that was gone too quickly to really be able to read properly and she was out the door, being greeted by her PPO who had already been waiting outside.

By now, her employees and all her cabinet ministers had more or less gotten used to the little curly-haired whirlwind who was either playing in Julia’s office, with Downing Street’s cat or with the daycare nanny Eleanor, who Julia had to hire in case she had to be off to Parliament. Eleanor was trustworthy and Bea had immediately taken a liking to her. 

Julia didn’t like not being able to take care of her all the time, but it was the next best thing and she still had her daughter around her. This would change next year when Bea would be able to go to nursery school. It was exciting for Bea to be able to socialise, learn and become a little more independent, but even now, a year before, the idea of parting with her, gave Julia a queasy feeling. She was not ready and she knew that she would not be ready in a year either. 

Today, however, everything would be a bit different. Julia did have meetings and more paperwork to tackle than she would be able to, but she would clock off at 12 pm and make her way to New Scotland Yard. She had deliberately not told Bea anything about it, for she knew that her little one was a little blabbermouth who would have spoiled the surprise.

Even now she didn’t tell her because she didn’t want to disrupt her daughter’s routine and besides, she was still too small to understand. 

***

Two meetings, a statement, interviews, countless emails and a throbbing headache later, it was finally time to get ready to leave. The pain came from both sides of her temples, nearly crushing her head and all she wanted was five minutes for herself in a quiet, dark room. She had tried to do too much in too little time and now she paid the price for it. She still sat at her desk and just for a second, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in a feeble attempt to soothe the pounding pain behind her eyes.

“Whatever it is, Tahir, please postpone it until tomorrow. Even if the world was ending, I don’t care. I need to get to my husband,” was her announcement as Tahir knocked on her door. A little stumped at her answer, he looked at her somewhat uncertain on how to proceed. 

“I just wanted to say that everything is arranged for your interview tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Tahir.”

Tahir still didn’t move as Julia started rummaging, put some of her paperwork in her suitcase and was just about to grab for her phone when finally she noticed him. “Is there anything else?”

“... No…,” he trailed off, realizing that this was definitely the wrong time for anything else, whatever it was. Julia looked at him for a moment, with a raised eyebrow, not buying his answer, but she was not interested right now. So, awkwardly, Tahir made his exit, biting the inside of his mouth.

Thank God, Bea had been happy drawing for the better part of the past half hour.

“Bea, darling, we are going to surprise daddy now. We need to change to look extra pretty. Do you remember the pretty white dress? We will put that on now.”

Julia had sat down next to her, watching how Bea drew something, which resembled absolutely nothing she could discern. At the mention of David, Bea looked up immediately, gave her mum her drawing, proudly showing what she had done before getting up, ready to go. As it turned out, with some help of Bea, she had drawn Larry, the cat and other animals, David had shown her in the picture book he had read as a good-night story last night.

Eventually, she picked her up and they made their way to the nearest bathroom to change the babbling toddler and finally made her way out of no. 10, her little one on her arm, waving to her employees and the journalists who were waiting outside. There were always a couple outside. 

Despite her very public position, Julia still fought for her privacy and was strictly against anything that put that in jeopardy. At some point, she had even gotten requests to do a home-story, but she had immediately declined that offer and asked her assistant to do the very same with all future requests. So, it might have been very possible that there had been more than the one request, but one public marriage and subsequent divorce was more than enough for a lifetime. Back then, it had been Roger’s idea as well. He had been the one who wanted to distinguish himself, the one who had brought in the public as a third partner. She had never been particularly crazy about the idea, but back then she had understood it, had tried to live with it. Now, that she was married with a daughter, she had reverted to her old, private self and nobody could change that. 

So, the only glimpses journalists and the media ever got of Bea, was when they were camped outside no. 10 Downing Street, where they knew that Julia inevitably would arrive our come out of the building with her daughter in tow. Since Bea was a happy and sweet child, she always waved at them. That had made her the country’s sweetheart in record time and if Julia liked it or not, people were rather obsessed with pictures of her daughter. 

It wasn’t any different now, but Bea paid no mind to the fuss those people made about her and was simply her sweet self who now couldn’t wait to surprise “daddy”. 

By the time they arrived at New Scotland Yard, Julia’s tension and anxiety had transpired onto Bea as well who was now perfectly hyper and more than ready to dissipate some of her excess energy.

Outside she might appear as the cool and collected Prime Minister, but inside she was anything but. It had seemed natural to her, to surprise David, to show him how proud she was of him. All through planning and giving her assistant directions, she had been looking forward to his reaction, but now as they had that little dark cloud over their heads after that argument, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It could go either way. One thing was certain though, he probably did not expect her. So at least, she had kept that part of the surprise. 

She gazed up at the building, suddenly a bit hesitant took a deep breath. She would tackle this like any other challenge: ‘just grit your teeth and get on with it, give your best and don’t let your emotions get the best of you’. She ran her hand through her hair for the last time, before her PPO opened the door. 

“Ma’am, we’ve arrived.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” and with one swift movement, she was out of the car, having had Bea’s seatbelt unbuckled already and on her lap as she had waited for him, and now followed Sergeant Compston inside. 

“Just through here, Ma’am,” Sergeant Compston pointed at a glass door after the metal doors had opened again and they had arrived on the destined floor. Julia had almost been oblivious to their journey upstairs as she had tried juggling her fussy daughter and try to keep her nerves, not let anyone see or know that she felt completely out of control. She didn’t know what to expect, how David, in particular, might react. She was a master at mingling with her own kind, the politicians, the MPs and lobbyists, talking and discussing things. But this would be nothing like that. 

“Mummy, down!” her daughter wriggled in her arms and brought her back to reality as she now stepped out of the elevator, putting Bea down at last. She was slowly but surely becoming rather heavy, so letting her walk - well, run more like - was a relief for her back who had started to become as tense as she had felt all day long. 

Julia stretched out her hand and Bea took it, almost pulling her forwards impatiently, now that they had passed the glass door and heard voices. There was no way back now, not that she would have backed out, she never did. Still, her jaw clenched as they moved forward and the sound of people talking became louder. 

As it looked, they had repurposed almost an entire floor for the post-exam party. Desks were pushed aside towards the walls so that there was more space for walking and standing together. There was one or the other high table where some people stood and talked. So far Julia and Bea had managed to walk down the corridor that separated them from the offices with glass windows unseen, until, yes, until Bea spotted her father who had his back to them.

“Da-da!” she cheered, prised herself from her mother and started running towards, the man who had the same dark curly hair as the youngster.

“B…- ea…,” Julia ceased her a rather hopeless attempt to stop the little girl from sprinting towards the man she had a tiff with at the moment. He was talking to a woman, about his age, with long, dark hair who gazed at him a little too sweetly, a little too flirty for Julia’s liking, giggling a little too much, and reminded her of her two-year-old. Julia held her breath and pursed her lips, staring at them for a second too long, before she heard the ruffling sound of Bea’s dress and she prised her eyes away from the two and watched over her daughter running towards her dad.

David who had been talking to a fellow examinee, Kate by name, pretty by any standards that was if you were interested, turned around confounded by the voice he hadn’t been entirely sure he had heard. If his ears had not mistaken him entirely and his hopes of seeing his daughter and her mother hadn’t deceived him, he had just heard his daughter’s voice calling his name.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and then raised in surprise as he indeed saw his youngest dashing towards him like a little white puffy cloud, curls bobbing up and down. Immediately his gaze went behind her, searching for Julia. There she was, walking somewhat tersely towards him, her eyes on her daughter until she felt his eyes on her. 

She had her poker face on, but before he could try and discern anything behind that seemingly clinical face, his eyes went back to the toddler and he crouched down, ready to whirl her into the air. Bea threw her arms towards her dad as picked her up and gurgled before he whirled her around and planted a kiss on her mouth. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, not entirely sure if the question as aimed at the toddler or his wife, as he looked into the little content face that had so much of her mother, it was almost scary. Only the hair and the eye colour indicated that she was his daughter. 

“We wan to su-p-ise you!” she explained knowledgeably, with her communicative skills that were typical for any two-year-old. “Did you now?” with that he looked up at Julia who was standing a foot away from him by now, still obviously distancing herself from him.

“Yes,” was the little squeak as Bea started looking around, finally getting curious at the surroundings. He chanced another glance at Julia. “You came.”

“I did, but you were obviously fine without me,” she cut him, wincing internally at how ridiculous she sounded, but she simply couldn’t help it. Last night had triggered something that now brought out everything, she never wanted to be around him, cold, distant, resentful and also jealous. Under any other circumstances, Julia wouldn’t have thought twice about that woman, knowing she had nothing to fear. David was not Roger after all. But this was no normal situation either. 

Now, David dared to look at her so completely dumbfounded that all she wanted to do was to throw in another vile comment. Instead, and as not to cause a scene, however, Julia looked at him cooly, before focusing on Bea, promised her some food, took her out of David’s arms and left towards the buffet.

Anger was bubbling up again. David’s face contorted as he looked after her. Only the sanctity of his working environment and his colleagues held him back from making a face as she looked at the food together with their daughter. Why had she come in the first place when all she did was to be what… hostile and jealous? What had been that comment just now? Had she only come because he had confronted her? The various questions nearly tumbled over each other as he glared at her.

“Hey Skip, you looked like you might need one,” Kim handed him a beer and now looked the direction he had focused on. For a moment neither spoke as David began nursing his beer, looking over at Julia glumly. 

“She arranged all of this, you know…” Kim finally broke their silence and she pointed in the general direction of the room. 

“What?” David’s head whipped around and he now stared blankly at Kim. 

“One day a few weeks ago the PM’s assistant called and that’s when the whole thing started. We were all sworn to secrecy. Judging by the look on your face, she might have done her job too thoroughly.”

“Aye,” was the gloomy reply. Now it was Kim’s time to furrow her eyebrows, she took another gulp of her own beer.

“You know, I am the last person to admit that, but what she did might be one of the most sickeningly romantic things and whatever’s going on between the two of you, you need to get your head out of your arse and go over and talk to her.”

David was left to his own thoughts as Kim was distracted and started talking to a colleague. He didn’t want it, part of him wanted to stay angry, but Kim’s words reverberated in his mind and all through the evening as he talked to this person or that person, when he looked over Bea - which was constantly, in fact, as she had chosen the floor as the perfect place to play hide and seek. The words came back to haunt him.

Just as he was talking to his new boss when, DCI Gill Murray, a woman who unlike Lorraine Craddock did not keep back with her opinion and was known for her crude honesty, after he had seen Bea dashing towards her mum again, and she had started talking about meeting her tomorrow morning for his first assignment, he zoned out as it finally hit him like a ton of bricks. That was why she had evaded his question all the time, she meant for it to be a surprise. Her whole behaviour, everything suddenly added up. 

The guilt over accusing her not to care when all she did was care about him, felt like ice in his guts. It nearly froze him inside and if he didn’t do something now, make her forgive him and let her warmth melt the ice inside him, he would feel worse and worse. He needed her. Needed to talk to her. Now. 

“Budd, you’re not even listening to me…,” but before Gill Murray could complain any more, tell him what a piss-poor job he was doing before he had even started his job, he interrupted her, not really caring what the woman opposite him might think of him. All that mattered was to find Julia and try. 

“Excuse me…,” David mumbled. He left behind quite a speechless boss. A tiny voice in the back of his mind told him that he would not hear the end of this tomorrow. At the moment he didn’t care. All he wanted right now was to go to Julia and attempt to make things right. 

He found her sitting on a couch at the far end of the floor, a glass of red wine in hand with Bea having finally succumbed to exhaustion from the day’s events asleep and nestled into her mother’s side. 

Julia had gently and carefully pushed her off her lap to actually be able to use her arms and hands for something else other than holding and caressing her daughter. That was to drink some much-needed wine. 

This day had been anything but what Julia had expected it to be. It might have been partly down to the fact that she could lie to anyone but David. Evading telling the truth might work with her peers but it had not worked with David. For once in her life, she had been foolish enough to try and not answer his question as she had back when he had wanted to know about Charlie’s schooling. That had been before. Before they had become more than two lonely people seeking company. 

Still, all of that had been no reason to be so completely and utterly out of line. Julia’s musings that night had only revolved around what-ifs and David’s obvious interest in anyone but her. What if she hadn’t arranged for such a post-exam party in the first place. What if she had told him and had not to beat around the bush. Julia sighed and took another sip of her wine. 

But alas the past could not be changed and she had never had any regrets or even believed she wanted to change things in the past, she focused on the sleeping form of her daughter cuddled up next to her. 

David meanwhile, stood there, perhaps for a moment too long, wondering just how he should approach her without fearing her wrath even more. As he looked at her, ‘forlorn’ was the word that sprung to mind and he carefully approached her, almost as if she was a wild animal that was either going to attack him or flee. 

The minute he put himself into motion, however, she looked up at him and gave him such an accusatory gaze that would have made anyone else wither under it, stop approaching her and instead turn on their heels and leave. 

“You know, I didn’t mean I like that,” David echoed the line Julia had said all those months ago before she had successfully cleared up their little misunderstanding. 

A scoff was all he got at that and a roll of Julia’s hazel-green eyes, glaring at him through her wine glass as she took yet another sip. 

David didn’t stop. Instead, he walked closer to her, determined to get their argument out of the way once and for all. The fact that she was sitting there and had Bea glued to her side next to her, disabled her from going anywhere and avoid him. At least that spoke in his favour, he thought quickly, before he finally sat down next to her, gingerly as not to wake the two-year-old in between them.

“Don’t you dare and come any closer to me,” Julia hissed under her breath, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. That very reaction summed it all up for David. She was angry and hurt and he had fucked up on a major scale. 

“Julia, listen to me,” David implored urgently, desperate to make her listen to him, daring to brush her hand. As if burnt by his touch, she drew it back instantly.

“Don’t touch me,” Julia snarled now, seething with rage, absolutely unable to hold back any longer. She threw him another murderous glare before she averted his pleading gaze again. 

It was no use to start the conversation that way. So, David took another deep breath to brace himself for the oncoming storm and started talking, confessing, trying to better things

“I am so sorry, Julia. I was stupid… I - I didn’t think… never wanted for this to happen. I was angry and didn’t understand why you wouldn’t come, I was too much in my own head,” at this point David dared to take Julia’s hand in his once again, hoping, praying she wouldn’t yank it out of his once more. She didn’t, however. He felt how her body tensed as he brushed her knuckles, interlaced her fingers with his, only to bring her hand to his lips and caressed it ever so softly. For the first time this evening, he was able to see exactly what was going on behind the cool veneer, as a faint trace of colour seemed to flush her cheeks. “Please, Julia, look at me. I love you, you know I love you. Please, will you forgive me?”

Julia still wouldn’t look at him, but her anger was crumbling right underneath his touch, as her fingers held onto his. Still, she wouldn’t look up at him. Her eyes were practically locked onto their intertwined fingers. 

Both David and Julia had almost entirely forgotten about their surroundings. They were caught in their own little bubble for now. So, it felt only natural for David to touch her face with his finger tenderly, to lift her chin with this thumb and make her look into his eyes at last. 

Finally, he saw Julia. Her face was not clear of all the dark clouds, the irritability and the hurt, but softness was peaking through like the sun after a thunderstorm. 

“I am so, so sorry, Julia,” he now whispered against her ear as he nuzzled his nose into her hair for he had moved even closer to her. Unable to keep in all of the tension any longer, Julia let out a shuddered breath.

“What is it with you and Miss Lovey-Dovey then?” 

As much as Julia appreciated the apology and was glad they were finally talking again, that woman had irritated her just a tad too much. She simply could not let go of the way she had looked at him and he had smiled at her. Or thought he had. 

Not at all expecting such a question, David stared at her completely at an impasse, uttering a “who?” before he could stop himself.

“The woman who was flirting with you earlier,” Julia replied, a little impatiently as his face still showed no sign of understanding. “Long, dark hair, laughed at whatever you were saying, made at eyes at you.”

As Julia became ever more impatient, it finally dawned on David who she was talking about. For another moment he just stared at her, having to bite back a smile as he saw her beautifully exasperated face. That was what the last shreds of darkness had been. Was it at all possible that Julia Montague, UK’s most powerful woman, apart from the Queen herself, of course, was jealous?

“Well?”

Not able to fight back the smirk any longer, he took her face in his hand and caressed her cheek. “Is it possible that you are jealous?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” 

But her answer was out too quickly and tension started to return to her body, her eyes looked at him, uncertain, wanting to know what it was, that was going on between them, begging for an answer. David was ready to give her an answer.

His hand was still rested below her ear, his thumb still drawing circles, caressing her cheek and their breaths mingled. “You were jealous…,” he whispered one last time before he drew her to himself, wanting to close the space between them.

“David, everyone can see us,” Julia made a feeble attempt to resist him, knowing full well that all she wanted was to kiss this stupid man in front of her. Still, she had never been prone to showing so much affection publicly and she wouldn’t want to start now. 

“So? I can kiss my wife if I want to, besides there is absolutely nothing to hide. I am sure one or the other has even heard us at some point or another,” this time, Julia’s cheeks really flushed, he did not imagine things now. 

Unable to resist her any longer, he finally leaned in and his lips finally whisked against hers, kissed her softly, gently, almost innocently. Not daring to deepen the kiss as not to give his colleagues a run for their money. It was a surprise in itself that Julia hadn’t resisted any more. 

In fact, Julia had been overwhelmed by his proximity. Even after all this time, she craved him, needed him and was nearly unable to resist him once he came close to her. Electricity shot down her spine and she felt euphoric, didn’t want to stop kissing those soft, tender lips. But simply had to. 

As she drew back, slightly out of breath, cheeks flushed and skin hot, he caressed her cheek once again, as he smiling at her. 

The smallest of smiles played around her lips before her gaze went back to his hand that was still holding hers. “Perhaps, I was.” David, sensing that there was more than just this admission, looked at her patiently, letting her draw back from him even, get some space between them again. Meanwhile, he lowered his hand and let it rest on her waist, drawing circles. Another shudder ran through her body, making the effect he had on her quite obvious to him.

After yet another moment, she had sobered up again and her gaze met his again. “I am sorry. I have been a total cow,” David didn’t say anything, but merely lilted his head in confusion. “I should have come forward, should have told you about my plans and not make everything even worse by not telling you anything.”

David merely smiled and pulled the back of her hand back to his lips. “I think we’re even now. All is forgiven?” 

“All is forgiven.” 

“Thank you.” This time it was Julia to give him a quizzical look, not quite understanding what he was talking about. 

“... for this.” with a wave of his hand, he pointed at their surroundings, the big buffet, the bottles of champagne, wine, beer and alike, the tables, the arrangement and his colleagues enjoying some downtime, some sitting, others standing at tables, adorned with delicate decorations.

“It’s nothing,” she smiled at him, eternally relieved that everything seemed to finally be fine between them, equally glad he seemed to have understood the gesture.

Just at that moment, the little bundle in between them began to stir, finally sensing that she was being squashed by her parents. “She’s had quite a day,” Julia murmured looking down at the toddler.

“Do you want to go home?” David asked, heaving his daughter carefully up from the couch and put her head against his shoulder. She barely stirred, but immediately snuggled into her dad’s shirt instead.

“I do,” Julia mumbled under her breath, “but you don’t have to leave just yet. This is your day…. You did pass, didn’t you?” 

“‘Course, I did. With flying colours, there was one wacky question, but apparently, that was fine too... and, I know. But at the moment I cannot imagine something better than to be at home with you,” for a second he wanted to tell her just how much he couldn’t wait to be at home and finally alone with her, but he swallowed down that remark and gave her a meaningful look instead. 

“Mmm… I’m glad,” Julia smiled enigmatically, having caught the meaning of his words instantly. “I am proud of you, you know.”

“How proud are you?” David was teasing now, unable to let the possibility for such a comment slide and looked at her mischievously. 

“You’ll see once we are at home.”

Barely five minutes later her PPO had been alerted and they made their way to the underground entrance. 

“Lavender and amethyst on the move.”

**Author's Note:**

> I got too attached to that fic and could not let go of some of the characters I had created and I thought this might be a good way to deal with this. I was a little uncertain if this might not be too fluffy, even though I tried my best to keep as real as I could. @akh can vouch for that. I kept coming to her and annoyed her with it.


End file.
